Vania



Aprix 21; 1925;; Y

vw. w. RONEY ExPANsIBLE MANDRE Patented Apr. 21, 1925.

UNITED STATES WILLIAM W. HONEY, F SEWICKLEY, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIG-NO-R TO H. H. ROBERT# i PATENT OFFICE.

SON COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVAN-A, A CORPORATION OF PENN-SYL- VANIA.

EXPANSIBLE MANDREL.

Application filed' .Tune 25, 1920. Serial No. 391,800;

To @ZZ 107mm. t may concern.'

Be it known that I, VILLIAM W7. RONEY,

a citizen of the United States, residing in Sewiclley, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have inventedl an Improvement in Expansible Mand'rel's, of

which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.v

This invention relates to an expansible and contractible mandrel, especially designed and adapted among other uses to be employed with rolls ofpaper or like fibrous material.

The invention has for its object toprovide a mandrel of the character described,` which is non-collapsible by strain Vplaced upon' it by the paper or like material.

The invention further has for its object to provide at a minimum cost a mandrel of minimum weight and size and of maximum expansibility.

To this end, the mandreltis provided with preferably a plurality of movable members mounted on a shaft 0r supporting member, andv with means forefl'ecting movement of said movable members.

These and; other features of this invention will be pointed out in the claim ati the end of this specifica-tion'.

Fig. 1? is aplan view ofy an expansible mandrel embodying tlii's'invent'ion inits contracted' condition.

Fig. 2, a like view with the mandrel in its expanded condition. i

Fig. 3, a cross section of a roll of paper and of the mandrel shown in Fig. 1 inserted therein.

Fig. et, a cross section of the roll of paper with the mandrel expanded to grip the same.

Figs. 5 and 6. enlarged views of the mandrel shown in Figs. 3 and 4 in its contracted and expanded position respectively, and

Figs. 7 and 8, like views of a modified form of mandrel.

Referring to the drawing, L represents a shaft or rod which constitutes a supporting member for one or more, preferably four movable members Zi, each of which is made as a. substantially flat bar which is attached to a straight or flat side or surface 10 of the shaft or rod a between the ends of the latter.

The fiat bars b are secured to the shaft or rod a so as to move therewith and also to beY moved laterally thereon so as to project beyond the shaft or rod a.

In the` present instance, each bar b is secured to the shaft a. by screws 12 extended through inclined slots 13 in the bar, which slots are preferably enlarged or countersunk at 14 to receive the heads of the screws, so that the said heads may be flush with the outer surface of the bar I). y

ln the contracted positionof the bars D, the screws 12 are atV the extreme right hand; end of the slotlv.y and in the extreme expanded position of the bar shown in Figs. 2 andf 6, the screws are at the left hand end of the slots.

The bars are positively moved lengthwise of the shaft a. in oney direction by a nut or internally threaded hub 15 of a hand wheel 1G, which' nut is in threaded engagement with a threaded' portion 17 of the sha-ft a, and while said bars are being moved longi tudinally, they are also moved outwardly or laterally. The nut or hub 15 is provided at its front end with an annular recess 19 into which the rear ends of the bars ZJ are extended, and said ends are preferably reduced in widtlr by cutting o' onecorner of the bars as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2:.

The' bars b1' may be moved ini the opposite direction by' gravity when the hand`4 wheel is turned .in the reverse direction; to release the'bars b, or they maybe restored. to their normal position by the resistance offered by the paper when the shaft (L is moved forward after the bars are released by the nut 15.

By extending the ends of the bars into the recess 19, they are prevented from being 'curled or bent upwardly by the pressure of the hand wheel upon them especially as the resistance offered by the paper increases.

The front ends of the gripping bars b may be rounded as at 22 to facilitate entrance into the opening 23 at the center of the paper roll 24.

The bars b, are preferably made of a length substantially equal to the width of the roll 24; and the shaft a may be provided at one end with collars 25 which are spaced apart and are designed to position the shaft in its bearing at that end.

The opposite end of the shaft a may be rounded to avoid tearing the paper when the mandrel is inserted into and through the opening 23 in the roll.

The mandrel shown in Fig. l is especially serviceable as an unwindiug mandrel, that is, to support a roll of paper while the latter .is being nnwound. lWhen so used, the mandrel in its contracted condition shown in Fig. l is inserted into and through the roll and the hand wheel 16 is turned to move the bars Y) forward and laterally and to cause them to be embedded in the paper after the manner illustrated in Fig. 4, and thereby firmly grip the roll at a plurality of points for the width of the roll.

It will be observed that when the mandrel is thus expanded into firm engagement with the paper roll, the latter can be unwound until a minimum number f convolutions are left on the mandrel and until substantially all of the paper roll has been unwound, as the gripping members or bars b of the mandrel are positively held in their expanded position and are locked against reverse movement by the strain placed upon them by the tension on the paper as it is un wound from the roll.

lVlien the convolutions 0f the roll have been reduced to a few, the eonvolutions remaining on the mandrel may be severed from the unwound portion of the paper; the hand wheel is turned back, and the mandrel is then removed from its bearings and placed in an upright position with the pointed end uppermost to permit the gripping members to be moved by gravity into their contracted position shown in Fig. l.

The gripping members b may also be moved into their closed position while the mandrel is in a horizontal position by backing off the hand wheel so as to release the gripping bars or members and then moving the shaft a forward to cause the screws lf3 to travel in the slots 13 to the right hand end thereof, the gripping bars 7) being held from movement by the paper or by the hand of the operator.

The mandrel shown in Figs. l to G is especially designed to be used as an unwinding mandrel and while it may also be used as a winding mandrel, it is preferred in the latter case to provide the members or bars Z) with arms (see Figs. 7 and S), which eX- tend substantially at right angles to the bars Z) with the arm 0f one bar overlapping. the next adjacent bar, and with the arms provided with transversely curved outer surfaces 31, so as to present a smooth and substantially circular mandrel upon which the paper or like material may be wound.

The arms 30 may be provided with openings 32, indicated by dotted lines, by means of which access may be had to the screw l2 in line therewith.

Claim.

In a mandrel of the character described, in combination, a supporting shaft provided with a screw-threaded portion and with a plurality of substantially flat portions between its ends, substantially flat bars cooperating with the flat portions of said shaft and provided` with inclined slots, screws extended through said slots into said shaft to cause the flat bars to slide outwardly and transversely with relation to the shaft upon said flat portions as bearing surfaces when said flat bars are moved longitudinally of the shaft, and a hand wheel provided with a threaded hub engaging the threaded portion of said shaft and having an annular recess into which the rear ends of said bars extend and co-operating with the threaded hub to be moved thereby when the hub is rotated in one direction upon the shaft.

n testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

VILLIAM lV. HONEY. 

